


Spread your wings

by Paddy_2020



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Bobby Nash is a shit captain, Eddie Díaz is a good boyfriend, Gen, Hen and Chim are good colleagues, Hurt Evan "Buck" Buckley, Hurt/Comfort, angry 118, angry Athena Grant, oblivious Bobby Nash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:02:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28462827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paddy_2020/pseuds/Paddy_2020
Summary: Evan Buckley is worried. He is getting denied promotions, further training opportunities and transfers with alarming frequency. In fact, since joining the 118 he has not been given any opportunities for career advancement at all. Hen, Chim and Eddie had all noticed this alarming new trend, and were all forced to ask the question, what the hell is going on with Bobby?
Relationships: Athena Grant/Bobby Nash, Bobby Nash & Firehouse 118 Crew, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Bobby Nash, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Firehouse 118 Crew, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 34
Kudos: 191





	Spread your wings

“Bobby, I got this advertisement sent through to my work email for a diving course and I’d really like to do it. I think it could also be valuable for us to have me trained to operate underwater”

”Buck, why?”

”Because I want to progress my career, because I don’t want a repeat of Eddie and the well, where let’s face it cap, Eddie only escaped alive due to sheer luck.”

”What’s made you decide on this diving thing specifically then?”

”Well, I’ve more or less already got the training from the SEALs. I’d just need to do the course as a refresher and then sit the test and then I would be a qualified rescue diver”

”Buck, I don’t need a rescue diver”

”No, but the brigade does. I would still work here, just I would have a car here so I could go to where I was needed if there was a call. That’s all”

”No Buck, I can’t afford to have the team spread that thin, I’m sorry”

xxxxxxxxxxx

”Cap, I was wondering. I want to progress in the LAFD, and it isn’t lost on me that I’m the only one on the team, other than you with no medical training. Would you put in an application for me to do the EMT’s qualification?”

”Buck, I appreciate your enthusiasm. But every couple of months you come to me with a new course you want to do. I don’t believe you’d take it seriously enough”

”Cap, it’s not as if I drop out of a whole list of courses. I want to progress, I’m ambitious so I want to learn, I want to work and I one day want to have a command. You don’t get a command by doing the bare minimum for your whole career”

”Is that all you care about. Power?”

”No Cap, it’s just I don’t want to be the dumb muscle for my entire career. I want to have an area which I can take the lead on occasionally. I want to feel valuable to the team and a I want to help people”

”Buck, you are helping people. You’ve not been on the team long, just give it a while”

”Cap, I’ve been on the team for three years. Eddie who started as a probie is now better trained than I am. When’s it going to be my turn to improve my knowledge”

”You’ll get your chance. How about this, I let you help me with the reports and then I can put you in to work with the fire Marshalls, that way you’ll be able to put all your knowledge to good use in preventing fires”

Buck knew Bobby was calling his bluff, so just said “You know what, forget we even had this conversation please cap”

xxxxxxxxx

”Everyone, can I ask you for a favour?”

”What Buck?”

”Please back me up when I go for Anderson’s job as driver-operator. It’s where my experience from the academy is and I want it. But I know Cap will do anything to put me off”

”I’m sure he won’t Buck”

”Do you know how many courses I’ve asked him to let me do in the last year?”

”No?”

“Seven. He hasn’t sent me on one”

”Well, maybe you weren’t suited to them?” Hen tried to placate him

”I tried to apply to do the rescue diver’s qualification. I was a fucking SEAL Hen, I was trained to do things much more complicated than any rescue diver will ever have to do”

”Oh, that actually doesn’t make sense. The brigade still needs another diver - it can be dangerous so no one wanted to do it”

”Well I did. But Bobby wouldn’t let me”

”Well, we’ll back you for this position Buck. I promise you”

“Cap, I wanted to ask for one of the applications for driver operator. When Anderson isn’t here I drive the rig so I thought that this would be a good next step”

”I don’t think so Buck - you’ve not been here long enough for that sort of a promotion. Send Eddie in will you?”

”Cap...”

”Send Eddie in please”

”Fine”

”Eds, Cap wants you!”

“Right, tell him I’m coming now”

”Everything okay Bobby?”

”Yeah, I just wanted to float the idea of sending you on the driver operator’s course to take over from Anderson when he leaves”

”Buck wants that promotion and he’s already done the course. So he has experience over me Cap”

”Yeah, well I want you to do it”

”No Cap. I’m not doing that to my friend. It’s only fair at this point that he gets to advance his career. You’ve kept him around as the dumb muscle since day one, despite the fact that he graduated top of his intake, just like I did”

”Fine Diaz, I’ll find someone else. Dismissed”

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

”Evan, why haven’t you done anything to advance your career since joining the LAFD?”

”Well, Captain McBride, I’ve asked my captain to let me go on various courses, but he never lets me. I applied for a promotion and he said I was too inexperienced, before opting to try and train someone who joined the department two years after I did. He never lets ,e take the lead on any calls, despite my supplemental training being with heavy machinery. So I’ve reached the point where I think I’m going to have to leave the 118”

”Well, if your story checks out. I’ll consider accepting your transfer request. Just out of interest what courses did you want to do?”

”Well, I applied for the rescue diver’s course and he more or less said I wasn’t cut out for it”

”Well, do you think you are?”

”Sir, I was a Navy SEAL. I have underwater demolitions experience. Rescue would be a piece of cake”

“I see. What other courses did you go for?”

”Well, I applied for the EMT’s diploma, because there was a push to have everyone trained in basic medical care. He denied it. I applied for further heavy machinery training. He denied it, despite it being my area of expertise from the academy. I even had to fight to be allowed to maintain my lorry driver’s license for the trucks. Despite being one of only two people on our shift to hold one”

”What does the rest of your team think of your relationship with your captain?”

”Well, they initially didn’t believe me, but then they realised when I applied for the driver-operator promotion and he turned me down and asked my work partner if he wanted to be trained from scratch for it instead”

”Ok, you do understand that I can’t promote you if you transfer, as I don’t have a position for you.”

”Yes, I do. But I was hoping that you would actually allow me to advance my career through courses and the likes until there’s a promotion I can apply for”

”Ok, well I think that everyone deserves to be allowed to learn more about their career. So I suppose that’s reasonable - I’ll just have to speak with your captain about you and see what he says”

”I’m going to warn you. He’s probably not going to be particularly flattering - he seems to think that everything I do is a game”

”And you don’t?”

”I got over that very quickly during hell week sir”

”Okay, well let’s see what he says”

xxxxxxxxx

”Buck! Could you come into my office please?!”

”sure thing cap” the younger man replied as he trudged in, knowing exactly why he had been sent for

”Buck, why did you file a transfer request?”

”Sir, I filed a transfer request because I felt that I needed to change stations in order to advance my career”

”But I’ve been training you Buck?”

”Respectfully cap, you know that’s not what I’m talking about. In this station I was next in line to become driver operator - instead you offered the position to Eddie, someone who doesn’t even have a lorry licence or training, unlike me who only needed a few courses and one written exam as I was already the reserve driver. Before that you denied my application to do the EMT’s course, despite the department running a campaign to get every firefighter in LA trained to take on the role of an EMT if required. And before that you refused to allow a retired SEAL go on the rescue diver’s course.”

”Buck, I don’t think you’re cut out for any of those things. You left the SEALs as soon as you could and I just think....”

”DON’T YOU DARE! I left the SEALs cause my entire team got massacred and because I almost died in action too. You know about that and you know that it happened in a helicopter, so if you actually gave a flying fuck about me you’d maybe have offered to let me sit it out when we had to rescue Taylor Kelly from that helicopter crash, rather than denying me the opportunity to make a difference in a field where I have likely forgotten more than the instructor will ever know!”

”Don’t you take that tone with me!”

”I will take whatever tone I damn well please if you’re going to disrespect me and my service in that way. You hold Eddie up as the shining example to us all because he was an ex soldier, and don’t get me wrong he deserves it. What he did was incredible, but I just don’t get what I did to have my service used against me whilst he receives constant praise for his!”

”Stop getting emotional Evan”

”I’m not emotional. Am I furious at the way you treated me? Yes. But I don’t do emotions in front of people I don’t trust” Buck said with a cold finality.

”Fine, have your transfer. See how I care - people like you they’re a dime a dozen. I’ll probably have a replacement before you’ve even left the station” Bobby said in an uncharacteristic fit of rage that made Buck want to lift him out of his seat and smack the smug look off his face. Fortunately he did not, however he did manage to punch a hole in the boxing bag whilst working out with Eddie later on that day.

”What’s got into you Buck?” Eddie said, concerned as the sand slowly trickled out of the hole Buck’s fist had left.

”I’m not a bad firefighter, am I?”

”What! No Buck, seriously I’ve never seen anyone who’s as good as you at rescues and I’ve never seen anyone who is as dedicated to their job as you. Honestly after what Bobby’s did to you over the promotion, I’d probably have flipped out and resigned or something”

”Thanks, it’s just... it’s just something he said to me in his office earlier made me think otherwise”

”What did he say?” Eddie replied, worry lacing his voice

”That guys like me are a dime a dozen and that he’ll have me replaced the second my transfer goes through”

”Firstly, if he actually said that exact thing to you I’m filing a complaint cause that is no way to talk to a colleague. Secondly what do you mean about a transfer request?”

”I applied for a transfer to station 57 under Captain McBride. He approved it last week and the paperwork was waiting for Bobby this morning”

”Why didn’t you say?”

”I wanted to keep it under the radar until it all went through. Didn’t want to give him another thing to attack me over”

”This isn’t right. He’s trying to kick you out of the house for really no reason as far as I can see. What else did he say?”

”He shouted quite a lot and tried to claim that I wimped out of the SEALs”

”I’d like to see him try to complete BUDs. I had a buddy tried out for the green berets, it’s not the same training but still, when he came back having flunked out he said it was quite possibly the worst experience of his life. Also didn’t you retire as a result of losing your team?”

”Yeah, but I don’t think he cared much. But anyway, I’ll be out of his hair in a month’s time, I’ll miss you, Hen and Chim though”

”I’m not letting this slide... I’ll got to headquarters if I have to...”

“Don’t, I’m already persona non grata up there after the lawsuit. Don’t need any more enemies”

”Buck, Bobby doesn’t treat you right. He kept you off work despite medical evidence stating that you were fit to return. He denied you any chance to improve your skills, despite the fact that I’ve been on five courses in the last three years ranging from refresher EMT work to the exact same operating at heights course that you chose to do at the academy... oh shit. Buck, you don’t think he’s trying to replace you with me?”

”Thats exactly what I think. Consider it Eddie - on paper we are more or less the same. I’m an ex SEAL you’re an ex army medic, I did the machinery course at the academy and he decided to put you in for it, we’re both more or less the same age, we’re both equally passionate about our careers, we both want to be captains one day...” Buck trailed off.

”I’m not letting him do this. If you won’t let me complain to the chief I’m gonna go up there and complain to him instead”

”Please Eddie don’t. I just want to keep my head down and see my time here out”

”Fine. But as soon as you go I’m giving him a piece of my mind and he’s not gonna like it”

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

”Wait, Buck’s leaving?!” Hen and Chim replied in sync when Eddie told them at the bar that night

”Yeah. We’ve both come to the conclusion that Bobby’s been trying to replace him with me from the start”

”I can see that now. He has no right to do that - I’m gonna complain...”

”Buck doesn’t want that, you know he’s already on the outs up at headquarters. He doesn’t want to give them any more reason to not like him”

”Fine, but I’m talking to Bobby. Cause I will threaten to put in a transfer request if he doesn’t see sense and bring Buck back into the fold”

“Hen, you’re our best paramedic yes, but Buck’s our best firefighter - if his transfer didn’t shake some sense into him then yours won’t either”

”Then what do we do?” Chim replied at a loss

”We bring out the big guns” Hen said with a smirk

”Who’s that. Buck doesn’t want you to go to the chief” he replied

”No, the big, big guns”

”Huh?”

”Athena” Both Hen and Eddie replied in unison...

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off a request from missmeagan666, tell me what you think and please send any requests to me in the comments👍


End file.
